Students share their projects.
Newbury Park Adventist Academy (NPAA) is striving to bring back the joy of reading for students through a new independent reading program that launched last summer and continued throughout the 2025-2026 academic year.
As a longtime educator, Mike Taylor, NPAA English and journalism teacher, has noticed with each new generation that students are reading less.
“We came up with the idea of instituting an independent reading program where the kids can choose any book that catches their interest—fiction or non-fiction,” Taylor said. “They have approximately two months to read the book, and then they’re required to do a project about the book from a variety of options that appeals to their different learning modalities.”
Writing an epilogue or lost chapter of the book, creating a 60-second movie trailer to advertise the book, or designing a blueprint of a key setting are just a few examples of their projects. How students present the book is up to them.
“I’m trying to facilitate a culture of sharing about books—the interesting aspects of these books—so people will get a little bit more enthusiastic about reading,” Taylor explained.
For Jessica, freshman, and Joshua, junior, sharing about the books they’ve read through creative projects has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the program. They’ve discovered new favorite books such as Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. This sharing has turned into recommendations for classmates.
“I like to hear about what books the other students are reading,” said Isaac, freshman. “One of my favorite books was Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I recommend that book to my fellow high school students and maybe even some older people. There’s a bit of philosophy in the story.”
More than uncovering favorite reads, the program is changing students’ relationships to books for the better. As a child, Anneliese, now a junior, didn’t enjoy reading due to difficulty staying focused and comprehending what she read.
“However, this reading program has helped shine a positive light on books for me,” Anneliese said. “It forced me to stretch my reading muscles and do
something that is challenging to me. Through this process, I have found books that actually pique my interest, and my reading comprehension skills have
improved a lot. Also, this program put me onto audio books, which I actually enjoyed listening to a lot! On my own, I definitely wouldn’t have read any of the books I did this year—or any at all for that matter.”
With student discussions on different titles, authors, and stories, Taylor has seen more of an interest in books during the program’s first year. Independent reading will continue this summer, and he plans to grow the program in the years to come.